4 Reasons Behind the Bitcoin Bear Market

admin

It goes without saying that Bitcoin
value
prices have taken a beating over the past 6 months. Good news appears to be on
the horizon with an incoming bullrun.

With market forces working to correct the prices we take a look
behind the scenes to determine what is driving this sudden surge in prices of
BTC.

1. Bitcoin Prices Have
Finally Bottomed Out

The bottom refers to a period where the price of a market commodity or
financial security hits its lowest valuation. In 2017 having hit a peak of
nearly US$20000 per Bitcoin, prices of Bitcoin began to fall as the market
worked to correct itself.

Having hit US$3150 in April; the lowest since 2017, the consensus
among most analysts is that Bitcoin prices have finally bottomed out. Following
this, investors have begun snapping up Bitcoins in a bid to speculate on an
increase in valuation.

Hence, looking at the data from April 2019 onwards, it is safe to say that market
sentiment is on the uptake with an exponential increase in prices. At the time
writing, prices have surged to highs of US$ 8150 which when compared to last
month’s prices has given investors a huge 170% return on investment.

2. U.S-China Trade
Tensions

The U.S-China Trade War has had investors all over the world scrambling for cover as the two mega
economies battle it out. In the most recent development, China has decided to
impose tariffs on goods imported from the United States.

Consequently, this has had a negative effect on various stock
exchanges and serves to further agitate an already volatile situation.
Responding to this, investors have begun dumping their stock and buying up
Bitcoins instead.

The decentralized nature of Bitcoins has proven to be an advantage
for investors due to their immunity to changing market conditions. Because of this,
investors are finding that Bitcoin is a relatively effective way of hedging the
value of their investments in a volatile market.

With an increase in demand for Bitcoins, it is only natural to
expect valuations to increase in the wake of an intensifying U.S-China Trade
War.

3. The Adoption of
Bitcoin by Major Retailers

Another factor behind Bitcoin’s sudden rise in valuation could be
due to the fact that several big names in the United States have begun
accepting Bitcoins as payment. As reported by Forbes, Flexa allows users to pay for their purchases
in Bitcoins at retailers such as Starbucks, Nordstrom and Baskin Robbins.

Others that have joined this trend are Whole Foods, Petco,
GameStop, Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowe’s, Office Depot, Barnes & Noble. As
time progresses, it is expected that more and more brands start accepting this
currency, which definitely will make people start trusting on it more, since
they understand they can use it on their daily lives.

While Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies are still some ways from
being considered legal tender, the adoption of cryptocurrencies by these giants
should be regarded as an endorsement to the veracity of Bitcoin.

4. Institutional
Investors

Despite a relatively weak first quarter, 2019 is shaping up to be
an exciting year for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Perhaps sensing the
undervaluation of Bitcoin, investors were quick to increase their holdings of
the largest cryptocurrency in the world as can be seen by the report released by Grayscale; an American digital asset
management.

The report stipulated that the vast majority of investments made
in Q1 of 2019 were for its Bitcoin Investment Trust. This shows us that
institutional investors are ready and willing to pump money into
cryptocurrencies.

Nonetheless, while the performance of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency variants has been promising, one should not get too carried away in the craze of the bull market.

Author: Benjamin Lee

Source